The Taken

[Stormee Fae]

Sylvie sat down on the old rusted park bench and motioned Danny to sit next to her. He walked slowly, head swaying and turning as her craned his neck to look at everything around him. What were these things? They were like swings but made of some sort of metal, and instead of being tied to trees, they were tied to more metal. Still, they appeared to be in disrepair, why would something so cool be in such disarray? How long had these been here? They seemed so revolutionary and original, yet they were abandoned... strange. Behind the factory building were large tins much like those he had seen in many Kansas farms, yet these were different, they seemed almost more... futuristic... upgraded... better technology than what he was used to... but they were rusty, old and forgotten as if they were a failed gold mine from over 50 years ago. What was all this?


"So you need to get to Kansas? Do you have any money?" Sylvie asked.


Danny sat, still looking around at everything but her, he shook his head.


"Okay..." Sylvie drew out the word so she could think, "Is there anyone you can call, do you know someone's number?" she pulled out her galaxy s5 from her pocket and held it out for Danny to use, "Here, use mine."


Danny looked from Sylvie to the flat, rectangular device in her hand. He didn't quite know what to do with it, but she was offering it to him, she thought it would help. Perhaps it could provide some sort of aid. Danny reached for the nearly flat box and held it in his hand. He moved it around a little, examining all sides, "That's-"


Sylvie cut him off as she took it back quickly, "Oh here, sorry, let me unlock it for you." she squeezed the side of the phone and swiped her finger across the screen. It made the sound of dripping water as the picture changed from an old dilapidated building to a picture of Sylvie and her dad.


Danny wasn't even sure what he was looking at, unsure how to process the object and how to react to it. He stared, brow wrinkled in confusion as he tried to process everything.


"Here," Sylvie handed it to him again.


"N-no." he stuttered, "I don't want that."


Taken aback by the odd response, Sylvie shrugged, "Ohhh kay." she put her phone away.


Finally building up the courage to ask the ridiculous question, Danny blurted it out, "What year is it?"


Sylvie almost chuckled at the absurdity of the question, "What?" she looked at Danny's face, her smile instantly fading when she saw this was no joke for him. Then it hit her as it had hit Danny, he couldn't be from her time period... was he frozen in some kind of ice? Her imagination began to run wild before the first confirmation, "2015"


The number was nothing but a number... it meant nothing a first as Danny absorbed the sounds. As it began to sink in, his body began to shake, his muscles trembling with panic and fear. Everything became hot and cold at the same time, the edges of his vision blurred.


"Daniel... are you okay?" Sylvie asked. She asked as she reached out a hand. He then began to fall to the ground, his eyes rolling back in his head before closing. Sylvie quickly reached out for him catching him with much trouble and strain. She draped him onto the bench as much as she could.


 
((Will reply to Miriam in just a bit. Gotta shower))


 
Eugene dropped the bag of grapes he had been holding when Miriam screamed. The grapes bounced on the floor as some rolled out of the bag across the sandy red tile. He went to Miriam and knelt beside her on the wall, almost certain at this point that to woman was indeed crazy, or perhaps she had come from some crazy isolated cult that's been kept hidden in the dense Mississippi woods for all this time!


Eugene didn't know what to say to comfort her, without a proper read on a person, a person os left without an appropriate response or method for interaction. Eugene just placed his hands up in the universal sign of peace and least resistance and said, "I am not a witch. There are no such things as witches. Where do you live? Is there anyone you can call? Anyone at all?" He got up and grabbed the home phone, walking it over to Miriam for her to use.

 

[KateMurdock92]

Miriam was shaking. She shrank away from the phone. "My name is Miriam Parsons. I'm from salem, Massachusetts." She replied almost robotically. She was still shaking as she looked at the phone in Eugene's hand. "My family is dead. What is....call?" She asked, eyes wide with fear.


Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

 

[Stormee Fae]

When Eugene heard Miriam's words, he rocked back onto his knees, feet drawn up under him. Salem? Witches? Really? He chuckled, and that chuckle turned into a laugh, a laugh as if someone had played a joke on him, a sick joke that he ultimately did not find all that funny, "You got to be shittin me." He placed a hand on his head, running it through his thin strawberry-blonde hair, "Sylvie put you up to this didn't she? I get it. Salem witches very funny." He clapped his hands slowly.

 

[KateMurdock92]

Miriam blinked. "Who is...Sylvie?" she asked, frowning. "Put me up to what?" Miriam looked up at the ceiling as if someone was literally going to put her 'up' somewhere. "I do not understand..." she stared at the man as if he had lost his mind as he started clapping. She was still shaking. Miriam felt so confused and alone, she didn't know what else to say to the man. Slowly, ever so slowly, things began to dawn on her. The beautiful house, the strange technologies, the different food. "Where am I?" she asked.

 

[Stormee Fae]

Eugene saw the girl wasn't laughing, not even a little. She was holding true to her story, not one smile was cracked or nervous expression at being found out. But this didn't surprise Eugene... He never really believed it was a trick anyway,


"304 Lilywater Dr Europa, Mississippi."

 

[KateMurdock92]

Miriam blinked. "Mississippi...? What year is it...?" She slowly asked, staring at her hands to keep calm.


Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

 

[Stormee Fae]

Eugene had already suspected this girl thought she was from some time hundreds of years ago... Whether or not she really was, that was something of which Eugene was most skeptical. He didn't want to say, he didn't want to make her panic if she teuly as delirious as she seemed so he asked calmly, "what year should it be?" He wanted to know what world Miriam existed in.

 

[KateMurdock92]

"1692." Miriam replied, clearly spooked but doing her best to stay calm. "What year is it?" She repeated her question, wary this time. "I won't scream anymore." She added in a quiet voice, "I promise."


Miriam told herself that no matter what the answer was, she couldn't do anything about it, and screaming wasn't going to fix anything. Still, her heart was racing and she was beginning to sweat.

 

[Stormee Fae]

Eugene believed at this point that this girl was eithwr delusional, or she had been being kept by a cult that made her believe the year was 1692... But cults usually involve themselves in witchcraft, not condemn it. He took her hand softly and spoke sweetly to her, "Sweetie... It's not 1692 okay? It's much later now. Much later, the good news is however, witch or not, you are completely safe. The year is 2015." Even though Eugene didn't believe for a second this girl was really from 1692, he believed she believed it, so he figured he needed to be gentle in the way he dealt with her.

 

[KateMurdock92]

Miriam blinked and nodded slowly. "Oh..... Okay..... You think I'm crazy don't you?" She asked. "Someone who is so far into the future.....you must think I'm crazy. I think I might be crazy, too." She murmured. "Thank you for being so kind to me." Now that Miriam knew the truth, it was much easier to confront.


Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

 

[Stormee Fae]

That was not how Eugene had expected the girl to act. He stared at her for a second, unsure of what to do next, either way, he had to help her. She was obviously helpless, "Why don't you go sit in the dining room over there and I will get you your lunch. Okay? And when my daughter gets home, we'll find you some clothes."

 

[KateMurdock92]

Miriam just nodded silently. "Thank you sir. What may I call you?" She asked politely. She made her way into the dining room. She took a seat silently at the table, admiring the carpenter's talent. 'Or maybe it wasn't made by a carpenter...maybe it was made by a machine or something.' she thought tiredly.

 

[Stormee Fae]

Eugene clinked around in the kitchen, pulling out the tuna salad from the refrigerator, he opened the tub aware and spooned some onto the bread, "Eugene. And what was your name?" he lifted the bread so he could make sure the tuna was spread evenly. His blue eyes darted from the the plate on the beige and brown marble counter top over the handmade wooden counters. He sliced the cheese and placed it next to the crackers as well as provided a small pile of grapes. Exiting the kitchen with plate in hand, he set it down on the table in front of her as well as a glass of sweet tea. He asked as he sat across from her, "I am sorry about your mother..." he paused placing his hands under his nose, "Did you have anyone else?"

 

[KateMurdock92]

"My name is Miriam. And no....my father left when I was a child." Miriam replied. She took a sip of the tea first. "Mmmmm....what is this?" she asked before taking another huge gulp. She LOVED the sweet, refreshing concoction. Next she ate a few grapes, some cheese (crackers separately) and then took a bite of the tuna salad. She hadn't had protein in days, so she devoured it before returning to the grapes and gulping down more sweet tea.


Miriam was incredibly thankful, the food was delicious, but talking about her family was threatening to drive her to tears again, so she focused on the food as much as possible. "This is all delicious, thank you so much." she said to Eugene.

 

[Stormee Fae]

Eugene placed his elbows on the table and leaned forward onto them, he left out a slow sigh at the news of her father, "I'm... sorry." It was interesting to hear that even hundreds of years ago, there were men who walked out on their families. Watching her scarf down the food frantically, "He replied, it's sweet tea, so just basic black tea like from England but chilled and with sugar added. He figured it was best not to give her anymore food. He didn't want her to become ill getting so much nutrients suddenly after not eating well for God knows how long. He took the plate from her once it was empty. Not one thing left behind, not even the crusts of the tuna sandwich. People ate much differently when they weren't used to having food all around them. He got up and went to set it in the kitchen, "I am glad you liked it."

 

[KateMurdock92]

Miriam wiped her mouth. "It was wonderful. I haven't felt full like this in....a month I think? Maybe more. This sweet tea....this is really good. But I think I should maybe stop drinking it or I might be sick. It's so....different." She sipped it more slowly and then made herself stop drinking it. "So....Eugene...what do you do? Are you a carpenter, or a leather worker, or do you have a trade? Or are you a law-person...?" she wasn't quite sure what to ask. "Do they still have law-people?" she asked, suddenly curious.

 

[Stormee Fae]

Eugene was more interested in what Miriam had just told him by the way she asked her questions. Still he figured he should answer, "I am an author. I write books, fiction books." he put the plate in the sink and grabbed her cup of tea, "I will get you some water." he turned on the sink and filled up the cup before getting some ice cubes from the freezer and dropping them into the glass. He handed it to her answering her last question with a question of his own, "So you think you've come to the future then? How?"

 

[KateMurdock92]

Miriam stared at the ice in the glass. It was so uniform. She pulled one out and put it in her mouth, just to make sure. She put it back in the water and took a sip. "Wow. A spring in your house!" She looked delighted. "I love books! They're hard to come by where I'm from though. Except the Bible." When she heard Eugene's question she shrugged. "I don't know. I remember seeing my mother get dragged away to be burned. Hearing my grandmother scream. Then I woke up in the woods in front of your house." She replied, taking another sip of the cold water.


Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

 

[Stormee Fae]

Eugene looked confused as he listened to her story, "You woke up in front of the house? So you saw it?" he pointed to the front door. He stood up and walked to the window, all the windows had lacy off-white curtains, "He looked at the front yard, nestled in trees and away from the dirt road, "Why didn't you come to the door?"

 

[KateMurdock92]

Miriam shook her head, "I thought....I thought it was a trick....I was afraid that I had somehow caused an event....and inadvertently done witchcraft or something. I was afraid you were going to kill me if you found me. Or witch hunters would kill me. So I stayed in the woods, until I finally figured out that I was not a witch, and that there was no way I could have done that. At that point, I was surviving and trying to go unnoticed, in case I ran into someone who wanted to kill me." she replied. "It sounds crazy, I know, but I was scared and I thought the only way I could survive was alone."

 

[Stormee Fae]

Eugene leaned his back on the edge of the counter, crossing his arms as he listened. He pushed up his glasses, adjusting them subtly with just his middle finger. Once Miriam finished her answer, he smiled at her, arms remaining crossed, "Well, you're safe now."


The two were interrupted by creaking coming from the front of the house. Shortly after the multiple creaking sounds, the door clicked and opened slowly toward the direction of the dining room. A young, teenage girl with medium length blonde hair stuck her head in to look around. She didn't look in the dining room yet, her head being to turned to the right, glancing toward the living room and straight ahead past the staircase down the hall.


"Sylvie?" Eugene took a few steps into the dining room towards the direction of the front door, "What are you doing?"


"Oh! Daddy, hi. Um... I need to talk to-" she saw the girl siting behind him. Her delicate featured face looked concerned. Especially when she saw the old style of her clothes and hair... it couldn't be another one. She better not jump to conclusions, "Who is this?" she entered the house.

 

[KateMurdock92]

"My name is Miriam Parsons." Miriam announced, staying in her chair. "Are you Sylvie?" she turned the name over in her mouth. It sounded strange to her ears. She assumed the girl was Eugene's daughter. "Eugene helped me. I was in the woods, hiding and...he found me." She finished, not sure of what else to say, aware of the fact that the more she talked, the more she sounded completely insane.

 

[Stormee Fae]

Sylvie looked at Miriam as if she had just grown a third nostril. Her head titled back and her face twisted into an emotion that showed utter puzzlement. A few seconds after Miriam stopped talking, Sylvie let out a chuckle, the she smiled rolling her eyes and shaking her head as she did so. She placed her hands on her hips, "Phew. Well that's a relief. She's from the past, too... right?" Sylvie asked as she placed one hand on the still open front door, leaning back toward the open doorway.


Eugene wrinkled his brow at Sylvie's strange behavior. He opened his mouth to speak and scold her for her rude introduction to the obvious confused and scared girl, but when she asked about Miriam being from the past, he tone changed. His jaw remained ajar and his eyes darted over to Miriam to allow her to answer that, because honestly, Eugene did not believe so. Still, why would Sylvie ask this? Wait... "Too?" Eugene asked.

 

[KateMurdock92]

Miriam nodded. "If this year is 2015 then yes. I am from Salem in 1692." Miriam replied. She perked at the word "too". "Is there someone else here like me?" She asked curiously. Miriam could hardly believe it. She supposed it was possible, but the fact that this might have happened more than once made her feel less alone.

 

[Kanata]

Nice story so far